Frank Sinatra, From Here to Eternity

In the ’40s, back when he was Young Blue Eyes, the actor-singer had enjoyed movie success with MGM, especially costarring with Gene Kelly in films such as Anchors Aweigh, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and On the Town. But by the early ’50s his screen career was hurting; in 1951’s Double Dynamite he was billed third, after Jane Russell and Groucho Marx. He fought to get the secondary, non-singing role of Maggio, the edgy soldier in 1953’s From Here to Eternity, because he knew it could rewire his Hollywood cred as a dramatic star. Did The Godfather get it right? Was a horse head involved in the casting discussions? We’re sworn to omerta. Whatever happened, though, Eli Wallach was out and Sinatra was in. He won a Supporting Actor Oscar and, after that, it was Hollywood that had to do the begging.